If you think the farming world is exempt from technological innovation, think again. Besides farms-in-a-box or closed-loop farms, automation is also heading to the field. Which, arguably, takes the most exciting bit of farming out of farmer’s hands. But that’s not the point. Farming giant John Deere reckons it can see the future and that future includes less driving.

Unless you’re one of the company’s Deere 8R tractors, that is. The company has used CES 2022 to show off its new fully-autonomous tractors, a product it has been punting since about 2019. It’s taken a few years to get it right, but now John Deere thinks it’s time to let it out of the shed.

John Deere letter

The company, at CES 2022, showed off one of its Deere 8R tractors fitted with a TruSet chisel plough. Which isn’t anything special. Farmers can already buy those, if they have the cash. But this unit is fitted with the company’s navigation tech, which combines GPS and sensors to get the 8R to work on its own.

It’s similar technology to the geofencing tech that automated lawnmowers use, only John Deere has thrown in camera sensors and object detection. Because a tractor is considerably larger than a lawnmower and we don’t need them running over people. The company says that all a farmer needs to do is drive it to its starting point, enable autonomous operation and then… let ‘er rip. Which is a technical American farming term for “swipe from left to right to start the machine”.

After this, farmers can monitor operations remotely. This includes a live video feel, as well as the ability to adjust speed and drill depth. What John Deere hasn’t done is say when these will be available or what they’ll cost. But they are ready to go into production. The company’s Deanna Kovar said, “This is not a demo. It’s not a concept machine. It’s something we’ve had in the field with farmers for years and will be taking to production in fall.”